I'm Happy To Report I'm Still Sane (Day 11)

All is good here and the day has gone somewhat fast. My brother came for lunch, my cousin Erin visited, along with my friend Celesta (who had a baby born here at 26 weeks-- she named him Steele and that says it all-- he's a fighter).
Dr. Lovelace says I'm officially 26 weeks today-- a miracle in my book. Spartacus-- my new little nicname for my baby warrior is looking great on all of today's tests. (Don't worry, we won't name him that). And no contractions to report. I'm just plugging along and feeling all of your love and support. Thank you -- I probably will never feel like I have said it enough.
In case you are wondering, the girls are doing great. They have been with Sally and Jonathan and their two girls. They couldn't be loved more. So that's a huge relief. Also, my friends Al and Joannah are running a soccer camp four days this week. The two older girls have been going to that each day and loving it. I think Greer (poor little mosquito-legged girl-- who takes after her mother) is just trying to keep up with Holland. But she's hanging in there and I'm proud of her.
I hope all of you are well. I'm fine and not too mental as of yet. :)

I'm Still Here... (Monday-- Day 10)

Sorry this post is so late. I know some of you get really worried but I haven't gotten around to getting on the computer much until now. I had lots of visitors and it seemed like the day got away from me. Cool, eh? So here's the doctor update. Doctor Lovelace came in this morning and I happily told him I had absolutely nothing to report. No problems, no contractions, nada. Maybe because of that he okayed me to go to "craft hour". After lunch, the nurse loaded me up in a wheelchair and wheeled me next door to the family lounge. I was joined by three other women on total bed rest. We got to sit in chairs for a full hour. Please try not to be jealous.
They gave us each a baby bib, paint and brushes. In case you are just dying to know, I painted a crocodile with his toothy mouth open and wrote "Got Milk?".
It was such a nice change of scenery. But I have to admit it was kind of a surreal experience. One woman was 35 weeks along and pregnant with twins. She was the most normal of the bunch. Then there was a 19 year old and a 20 year old-- both at 34 weeks and both had had their water break. I hope this doesn't come across elitest-- but both were covered with tattoos, every other word was, shall we say, colorful and both had boyfriends who looked to be more concerned with making sure their pants were sagging just enough to show the right amount of underwear. One of the boyfriends wasn't even the father of her baby. It was very interesting. No make that fascinating. All three are on public assistance and have had their pregnancies completely covered basically since conception. And yet, not one of them had an OB/GYN until they were rushed to the hospital. Now they just see whoever is working each day. They all kept complaining that since they were stuck in here, their WIC (foodstamps) were going to waste for this month or week. It was crazy. I kept feeling like I was on some reality show and about to be voted off because I was too boring (or perhaps just too old-- in that I'm old enough to be the mother of each of those girls). Anyway, as I said, it was an interesting day. I shouldn't be suprised. When we first got pregnant, and were in total shock, Doctor Lovelace said he sees to groups of "oops babies"... teenagers and women in their forties. After today's little lesson in reality, I'll happily accept being in the older group.
Love to you all!

Speaking of Spring

Thes pics are actually from about a month or so ago. But the story is hilarious. One morning we woke up to this little guy trying to break into our house. He or she was obviously fixated on the ficus tree inside our house. The bird (I nicknamed it Glenn Close from Fatal Attraction) put in an 8 hour day repeatedly flying into our window and pecking at it furiously. I thought after a day of failure, G.C. would wisen up and give up.... but boy was I wrong. The next day it was Groundhog day all over again and the next and the next and the next and the next....
This obsessive/compulsive behavior went on for -- no joke-- three weeks. Oh, there was a bit of variation, GC would try the french doors on the East side of the house and once in a while move to the windows on the North side. But I'm proud to say that Byron built a solid house and the little burglar never succeeded. I assume our little feathered friend finally gave up... because after weeks when we were so used to the body slams against the window, he just didn't show up for work one day. Go figure. I'm just thankful we didn't find a pot with a boiling bunny outside our door. (I assume you've all seen Fatal Attraction).

Break into song, it's Spring.

Spring is my favorite time of year. And since I'm stuck inside, the girls are having to soak it all in for me. This is the upper lawn above our house and everything is in bloom.... including the girls.

This Is My Second Sunday Here...

Good Sunday morning everyone. Blue skies are outside my window and it looks lovely again. I don't have much to report this morning--- which is the best of news. Made it through another night. Had some bleeding but that's to be expected. Sorry to all of you who don't want to know these gory details. Just be happy I'm not getting into the details of my body feeling like it's turning to jello after only 9 days of laying still in the hospital, okay? That may come later, though.
Byron brought the girls up last night right AFTER he fed them dinner. You'd think they were from Ethiopia with they way they scavenged any little tidbit in my room. And believe me, there's plenty of tidbits. April and Chris sent a bouquet of chocolate dipped strawberries, pineapple and grapes. Mary K, Jeanie, Joannah and Susan have stocked my refrigerator, Elly has brought me countless lunches and dinners, Andrea and Amber brought in Chili's chips and salsa, John and Kate (who the nurses all thought was my twin sister) brought me a chocolate frosty and Jay and Leah snuck in PF Changs. So can you understand why I am feeling very, very spoiled. I can't even say the hospital food is getting old because I rarely order it!
My girls also spent last night decorating my room with their artwork and even some ribbons they won at a toy horse show at Flynn's. Those shows on HGTV would be proud.
Finally, my ward (church congregation) is holding a ward fast for little old me and the baby today. I feel very humbled. And I know I keep repeating how loved I feel through this-- but it's true and I don't know of a better way to describe it.

It's Saturday and I'm Still Here

It's Saturday morning... about the same time I was rushed in here last week. And I'm still here. Wow. I can do this. Dr. Lovelace came in a while ago and told me all looks about the same. Which is good. The monitoring showed one little blip for a few minutes (baby's heart beat was down a bit). But they say that is to be expected now that my water is broken. My blood pressure was pretty low this morning-- but it always runs on the lower side of things. I guess I can blame that on why I'm feeling really mellow today. Also could be the overcast sky outside my TWO windows.
The best news I can impart actually came late yesterday. Dr. Lovelace stopped by and we were talking about my condition. He said just continue to stay down and eventually I'll start bleeding more and then the contractions will ramp up. I asked him if he could give me any idea of a timeline of when to expect all this to kick in and he said that if everything continues to go as it is right now-- I may make it another FOUR weeks!!! I about fell out of my bed. This is the same doctor who has been telling me all along to try and make it through one day and that's the best I can hope for.
So all of a sudden, I've gone from a prognosis of making it one day to making it through a week to a goal of 4 weeks. That would put the baby's odds for survival in the 90 percentile (I believe). So I feel very blessed. I just won't allow myself to think what 5 weeks in the "Bridal Suite" will cost us. Nevermind the NICU for the baby. Troops, let's start planning lots of lemonade stands and car washes- ha.
Thank you again for all of the visits, phone calls, flowers, food, name suggestions and the taking care of my family. Ever want to know how much you are loved? Go through this. On second thought, just call me and I'll tell you that you are very loved.

Friday's Update from Bed Rest Central

Can someone print a certificate for my wall stating I made it through a week here???? Just kidding. But whew! Today I am in great spirits. No rollercoaster of emotions here. Sally brought the girls by last night-- and being the genius that she is... she kept them all corralled in the "family" playroom (that exists somewhere outside my door-- I'm told). Then she sent each girl in one at a time for snuggling in my bed and talking. It was soo great. I honestly believe they may survived this without permanent scarring and a need for years of therapy! (Insert chuckle here, please). Anyway, it must pay to suck it up and not complain here. Last night, the nurses moved me out of my perfectly fine room to the hospital's version of the bridal suite at the Ritz. Lets see, the room is HUGE, I have my own microwave, a much bigger fridge (since I'm on a general diet that's way cool), tv, DVD/VCR, TWO windows, a bed/bench for Byron and a desk for anyone that wants to use it. It's great.
I did get my massage yesterday. Wow. One of the nurses here spends two hours of her shift each Thursday giving 20 minute massages. I was jello afterwards...mmmmm it was great. Now I absolutely have to make it to at least next Thursday for Massage day. Ha.
Several friends stopped by, plus my brother-- so the day went fast and it was a good day.
On a medical front... had a little gush at 3 am. But that's actually a good sign. Since my water is officially broken, that just means my body made some more. So phew. The other highlight (I know, it doesn't take much these days)... is that I'm no longer on antibiotic IV's. Great, great news in that I've already blown out two IV's and my arms are very sore. Did I mention I'm kind of wimpy? Anyway, you'd think that since my water is broken they'd be keeping me on antibiotics. But as it's been explained to me, the antibiotics would mask any infection until it was most likely too late to save the baby. So I'm off the yucky stuff and they just take my temp every two hours, check vitals and I'm to watch for soreness etc. Cool, eh? All the regular baby monitoring shows I'm doing okay-- Baby Boy Barker is steady and so far no contractions on my part. So yes, things are good today.
Finally, anyone know any cool boy names that mean "torturer of nurses"? This little kid loves to kick and move whenever he's being monitored. One nurse spent-- no joke-- 45 minutes chasing him to get him on the heart monitor. It was classic. That's great- he needs to be a little pill to survive what's ahead.
Thank you again for all of your love and support.